Jerome Thomas reckons Birmingham City are the standard-bearers for West Brom

JEROME Thomas believes tomorrow’s derby opponents Blues are the standard bearers for all Premier League newcomers.

JEROME Thomas believes tomorrow’s derby opponents Blues are the standard bearers for all Premier League newcomers.

The Albion winger hopes to keep his place in Roberto Di Matteo’s first-team for the visit of Alex McLeish’s men at The Hawthorns – the first of 12 derbies involving our clubs this season.

And Thomas, a veteran of several Premier League campaigns involving Charlton and Portsmouth, has been impressed with what he has seen a few miles down the road.

Blues finished ninth last season in their first season back following promotion.

They have followed that up with an unbeaten start this campaign, having brought in Aleksandr Hleb and Jean Beausejour just before the transfer window shut - both of whom could make their debuts at some point at B71.

The ex-Arsenal man said: “When describing Birmingham I think the first word you’d use is ‘organised’.

“They know exactly what they’re doing.

“Again,set-pieces are a strength but it’s definitely a game we can win.

“We’ve all seen Hleb play at Arsenal and Barcelona.

“To do what they’ve done you’ve got to be doing something like that.

“They had a great season last year and we said at the start of our season would it not be too much to go into this season and not be in a relegation battle this season but actually do what Birmingham did and use them as a example? Why not.

“They are an inspiration in many ways.”

Thomas has not played in too many derbies during his 10-year-long career.

Charlton occasionally faced Crystal Palace, while his spell at Portsmouth, during their Premier League campaign two years ago, coincided with Southampton’s spell in the Championship.

“Charlton played Palace which was probably our biggest derby - Tottenham and Arsenal was a big derby but with the position we’re in we need to treat every game as a derby,” added Thomas.

“It’s a cliche but it’s no different to how our mindset was last season.

“We will work on their weaknesses and strengths.

“We’ve improved a lot since that first game at Chelsea where we lost 6-0.

“If you look at the table, we’re not the only team doing that.

“Saturday is definitely a game we need to win.”

Roberto Di Matteo will decide whether to include Graham Dorrans in his starting XI following his return to the club.

The Scotland international was absent last week after being given time off due to a family bereavement.

He will be back in the squad for tomorrow’s game but, as yet, there is no indication whether he will start.